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Proton activity of Nafion 117 membrane measured from potential difference of hydrogen electrodes

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Abstract

The proton activity of the Nafion membrane was estimated from the potential difference between a normal hydrogen electrode (NHE) in 0.5 mol dm−3 H2SO4 and a dynamic hydrogen electrode (DHE) constructed on a Nafion 117 membrane. The potential difference between the DHE and the NHE was directly measured at the same temperature in a box chamber filled with N2 gas. As a result, the potential difference of E NHE − E DHE changes from 0.006 to −0.024 V with the increasing temperature from 289 to 313 K; however, the potential difference remains at around −0.024 V when the temperature is between 313 and 343 K. Based on these data in combination with the Nernst equation, the proton activity of the Nafion 117 membrane at 289 K is estimated to be 0.8, which increases up to ca. 2.4 with the increasing temperature.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B; 21360358) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Kamitomioka 1603-1, Nagaoka, Niigata, 940-2188, Japan

    Minoru Umeda, Kazuya Sayama, Takahiro Maruta & Mitsuhiro Inoue

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  1. Minoru Umeda
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  2. Kazuya Sayama
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  3. Takahiro Maruta
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  4. Mitsuhiro Inoue
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Correspondence to Minoru Umeda.

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Umeda, M., Sayama, K., Maruta, T. et al. Proton activity of Nafion 117 membrane measured from potential difference of hydrogen electrodes. Ionics 19, 623–627 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-012-0791-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-012-0791-z

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